Garden Creatures and Princess Sandals

Thursday, April 23, 2009

A simple beetle paired with two curious boys constitutes an afternoon of intrigue and dialogue.
What was the beetle going to do next?
Juniper doesn't care at all for beetles.

In fact, she could have cared less about what her older brother and best friend were up to in our backyard. Sporting her new $5.00 rainbow sundress from Target, she was much too preoccupied with trying and retrying on her new princess sandals. She only wanted the princess sandals. She kicked, screamed, and shook her head "no" at the plain, white, practical sandals I tried to buy for her, reaching instead for the pink Disney sandals. She wouldn't even let me try them on her, withdrawing her foot at the sight of them. And so I gave in . . . and rescinded all my previous judgment for parents of little girls obsessed with everything princess. As a parent, I've pretty much had to resentfully rescind every damn bit of judgment I ever carried up until now. I used to cringe when parents would refer to their daughter as "their little princess," and I still do, but I'm learning that this thing is out of my control and has a mind of its own. It's completely hard-wired, I'm telling you. Out of my control. You want proof? My daughter has so far grown up in a house full of Sam's trucks and animal figurines. Not one doll to be found. Nothing pink in our entire house. Yet, one trip to the Disney Store for EVE, one of Sam's birthday presents, and Juniper walked right up to the 2 foot-tall Cinderella doll, clutched her to her little chest, and proceeded to walk through the store proud as a peacock. When I put the doll back ten minutes later when it was time to leave, a 20 minute crying spell ensued. You would have thought she had been the victim of a kidnapping. It was that dramatic.

I have to admit, I find this all rather endearing . . . and interesting! I've a son who could spend hours playing with a beetle in our backyard and a daughter who, at the tender age of 16 months, insists on the pink princess sandals. All I know is this: their personalities have little to do with me (when was the last time any of you saw me wearing PINK?), and a lot to do with Sam and Juniper. I keep this in mind as I observe their ways.

1 comments:

Awwwww~~~~ I guess you know how I felt with having four, very different, their own personalities ~~ girls in our household!Some of it -- you can control, such as, if the budget does not merit a 'huge bill' for the best of the west then you just don't get it......but you are right, they are so very different!!! I found that one out when Robby came along. You can only control so much and the rest is the child's personality and way they express themselves.Juniper is a sweety pie and Samuel is a good boy and they are both their very own personalities and both special in their own right!!!

About Me

Karli lives in a small Oregon town with her three children, Australian husband, and cat Pepper. She loves coffee, Etsy, friends, community, nursing, zone 8 gardening, interior design, backyard chickens, and wine.